1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for assessing quantitively the fat content of a human body.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Obesity is a probelm of considerable concern among both doctors and the patients. Obesity cannot only be a severe health hazard, but also makes the obese person feel unattractive causing social disfunctions. Accordingly, the ability to diagnose the existence of and determine the degree of obesity in human patients is desirable.
Obesity can be defined as excess fat accumulation. Most people associate body weight with body fatness and thus associate being overweight with having an excess amount of body fat. It is an error to associate fatness with being overweight and thinness with being underweight. It is known that athletes are often overweight and at the same time under fat, while sedentary people are sometimes underweight and over fat.
Thus it can be seen that the use of height and weight charts, one of the more common presently used methods to attempt to determine excess body fat, can be highly inaccurate and misleading. A practical measuring device is required to measure body fat.
One presently accepted method of determining actual body fat comprises skin fold measurements. Calipers, such as those shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,008,239, issued Nov. 14, 1961, to Lange, are used to measure the thickness of a fold of skin in various areas of the body. Regression equations have been developed which can translate this measurement into a logarithmic value which then can be translated into a percent designation of body weight which comprises body fat.
The skin fold technique, while accurate, requires the use of expensive calipers which require technical skill in their use. Further, such calipers are difficult to use in the abdominal area which area provides a higher degree of correlation with body fat than the more commonly used arm skin fold measurement. Therefore, a need has developed for a simple device and procedure for measuring skin thickness in the abdomen.
One tool designed for measuring the thickness of fat is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,979,835, issued Sept. 14, 1976, to Sumption, et al. The Sumpton et al device, however, is designed for measuring thickness of fat in a carcass by inserting the measuring tool into the fat itself and thus requires puncturing the skin. U.S. Pat. No. 4,078,313, issued Mar. 14, 1978, to Hennessy, shows a measuring device for measuring animal fat by insertion of a probe directly into the fat. U.S. Pat. No. 2,763,935, issued Sept. 25, 1956, to Whaley et al, shows yet another device for measuring the depth of animal fat which device requires actual penetration of the fat being measured.
Of course, depth measuring gauges per se are also known. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 3,813,785, issued June 4, 1974, to Larsen, shows a veneer block for attachment to a standard measuring blade. U.S. Pat. No. 2,179,658, issued Nov. 14, 1939, to Gallagher, shows an electrician's guide having a scale with a transverse member slidably disposed on the scale. Other similar devices are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,009,605, issued Nov. 21, 1911, to Walker, 1,248,340, issued Nov. 27, 1917, to Kinney and 2,373,338, issued Apr. 10, 1945, to Rakauskas. Since each of these devices comprises a slidable keeper with a small surface contact area, if the devices are used for measuring a hole with an uneven top surface, different height readings will be indicated depending on what point of the top surface is contacted by the slidable keeper. Further, the small rectangular contact surface will only keep the device precisely perpendicular in one plane. This also reduces the accuracy of any readings obtained.